The Lion And The Crow
by Piper Squeaks
Summary: When the Normandy rocketed away from the Collector Ship, Shepard never dreamed he would stumble upon the find of a century. He never thought he would discover a creature unlike any seen before. He never imagined that the greatest weapon against the Reapers isn't a gun or a bomb, but a Crow Feather. Rated M for foul language, adult situations and Karasuba's bloodthirsty attitude.
1. A Crow Awakens

"Joker get us the hell out of here!" Shepard sprinted from the CIC to the bridge.

"Aye-aye Commander!" Joker worked the Normandy's flight controls furiously. "Let's get this baby in FTL now, EDI!"

"What is our heading, Mr. Moreau?"

"Anywhere but here!"

"Very well. Entering FTL now." EDI activated the drive core and the Normandy leapt forward into the unknown. After several minutes of FTL travel. Joker felt more at ease and began working the interface at a steadier pace. He watched the haptic display as light days of distance ticked off at a rapid pace.

"OK, EDI throttle us down. Let's see if we lost 'em." As the Normandy slipped out of FTL, Joker activated the extreme long range sensors and began a sweep of the space around the ship. "It looks like we slipped the noose… again. Wait… EDI, do you see that blip at bearing 345 by 352. What the hell? Did they do an end run around us."

"No, Mr. Moreau, the object ahead of us is not the Collector ship. The EM profile does not match. It does appear to be a ship of some kind, but we are too far away for a more definitive answer." EDI continued cataloging the data from the long range sensors.

"Joker, what's going on? Are we or are we not out of the fire yet?" Alex Shepard crossed his gauntleted arms across his chest and stared at the crippled pilot.

"Shepard, I have no idea what's going on, but we did get away from the Collector's ship if that's what you're asking. We ARE still on a suicide mission though, so yeah the 'fire's' still toasting our ass."

"Shepard, after some additional scanning, the ship ahead of us appears to be in a dormant state. It is holding its current position and its thermal signature is only one hundred Kelvin above the interstellar baseline. If we launch a sensor probe I can gather more in-depth data including visuals." EDI replied as she readied a probe for launch.

"Do it EDI. I'll be in the CIC. And Joker that was some quick maneuvering even for you. You might actually get that medal you wanted." Shepard turned around and strode out of the bridge.

"Yeah, yeah. Promises, promises." Jeff waved Shepard away distractedly. He continued assisting EDI with identifying the unknown spacecraft.

"Probe away, Shepard. Logging you out." EDI calmly waited for the probe to reach its long-range scanning distance. The probe's transit time lasted over an hour before any detailed data began filtering back to EDI and the Normandy. "Shepard, the preliminary data from the probe indicates that the ship is indeed in a dormant state. However, the EM and gravimetric signatures do not match any known ship designs. It cannot be Alliance, Council or Terminus in origin. The gravimetric readings are especially interesting as it is indicative of a ship that does not have an element-zero drive core. I will continue scanning and the probe will be within visual range in a few more minutes."

"Thanks, EDI. Miranda, you and Tali meet me in the CIC. I think we've stumbled across a mystery you two MIGHT wanna see." Shepard logged the Normandy's current position into the ship's logs. A ship of unknown, possibly alien, origin. It could either be a godsend for the war against the Collectors, and by extension the Reapers, or another galactic catastrophe just waiting to happen.

A few minutes later the elevator opened and the two requested females stepped out. Each looked distinctly uncomfortable with the other's presence. "We're here Shepard. You said we stumbled onto a mystery. What do you mean?" Tali asked somewhat impatiently. She stood very close to Shepard, something that did not go unnoticed by the Normandy's XO.

Shepard gestured over to his private terminal. "EDI bring up all of the scans you've gathered from the probe so far."

"Affirmative, Shepard. Here is what we know about the ship thus far." Shepard's terminal displayed a variety of numeric and waveform data.

"But that can't be right. The readings indicate this ship has no eezo based drive core. What kind of ship doesn't have a drive core? Especially this far into interstellar space?" Tali sounded concerned and more than a little apprehensive.

"The ship also appears to have no active mass effect fields."

"EDI, do we have any visuals on the ship yet?" Shepard asked as he watched the reactions of the two female crewmembers.

"Yes, Shepard. Long range visuals are coming in as we speak." EDI routed the visuals of the unidentified vessel to his terminal, and a three dimensional holo of the ship's exterior on the galaxy map interface. "According to my calculations the ship is approximately twice as large as a standard Alliance cruiser. There does seem to be evidence of a spinal cannon but it does fit with any known mass accelerator designs. And other than the main gun, I only detect defensive weapons similar to the GARDIANs that are equipped on the Normandy, but that is only an assumption based on the visual scans."

"EDI, speculate for a moment. Can you guess as to the age of this vessel? Could it be prothean?" Shepard was looking at the dark structure. The lines of the ship seemed to flow around the structure, giving it a streamlined, organic feel.

"I am not given to speculation, but if I were, I would say that the design of the ship bears no similarities to any of the prothean design philosophies apparent in the ruins that have been uncovered thus far. Perhaps Dr. T'Soni could be more helpful in answering that last question."

"Liara, is too busy with her hunt for the shadow broker for me to bother her with this right now." He felt more than a hint of jealousy at that fact.

"We are now receiving more detailed visuals. The ship is definitely alien in origin. The physical profile does not fit any known designs from any of the Council or Terminus races. The emitted EM radiation is indicative of a non-element-zero powered ship." EDI confirmed her earlier deduction.

"EDI, is the ship showing any power readings at all?" Miranda asked a furtive look on her face. She contemplated the implications for the future. The possibility of non-eezo powered FTL travel would be just what Humanity (Cerberus) needed to have an edge on the Reapers and the other races.

"Operative Lawson, the ship is showing minimal power output of any kind. Now that I have access to more extensive scans of the structure, the EM readings are fairly uniform throughout the exterior of the ship. This would indicate that almost all power consumption is located at the center of the vessel."

"Joker take us in closer. Let me know when the ship is less than a hundred kilometers away. I also want firing and escape solutions plotted and ready to go in case this thing wakes up angry."

"Aye-aye, Commander." Joker began calculating the necessary firing angles for maximum damage.

"You three," Shepard said, as he pointed to Tali, Miranda and Kelly Chambers. "With me. EDI let the rest of the ground team know that I want a briefing in the comm. room ASAP. And make sure they have all of the information we have so far."

"Understood, Shepard. Logging you out."

Five minutes later Shepherd Maranda, Kelly and Tali entered the Normandy's briefing room. They found Jacob, Mordin, and Garrus were already there waiting for them. After a few more minutes Jack, Grunt, Kasumi, Zaeed, Samara, and Thane arrived. Shepard moved to his customary location at the head of the table, and began the meeting. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a true mystery on our hands. Roughly two hours ago, during our escape from the Collectors, we stumbled upon a dormant ship of alien origin. The ship is not from any known spacefaring race we know of. And it does not appear to be Prothean either. EDI bring up the scans from the probe."

"Understood Commander." EDI displayed a hologram of the ship and the EM and gravimetric wave-forms on the table's center holo display.

"As you may be able to tell from its visual profile, the ship does not match any designs from any of the known races." Shepard gestured to the 3-D hologram. "The ship appears to be approximately twice the size of an Alliance cruiser. We are currently en route, and should be within visual range of the ship in the next hour. Do any of you have any questions?"

Garrus spoke up first, "So let's see if I can sum up. While escaping the Collectors after that fiasco of a recon mission, Joker manages to FTL us right next to a ship no one has ever seen before, and now you're thinking about boarding it. Did I miss anything?

"Well, shit Shepard you have either the most ridiculously good or ridiculously bad luck I've ever seen. I wanna to be on the team that goes into that fucker." Jack exclaimed as she gazed at the hologram of the alien ship.

"Shepard, this could be a first contact situation. We need people who are well versed in first contact protocols, not some hothead that will just warp everything in sight." Miranda said as she raised a brow at Jack.

"Shut the fuck up, cheerleader. You just wanna go in there and steal whatever you can get your claws on."

"Agree with Miranda, regarding possibility of first-contact. If ship remains dormant entry could be problematic. Believe team should be comprised of technical experts and combat specialists perhaps a single biotic in case of unpleasant surprises."

"I concur, Mordin, so I'm breaking us up into 2 teams. The first team will consist of myself, Tali, Kasumi, Garrus, Jack, and Grunt. Miranda you're leading team two, and you'll have Mordin, Samara, Zaeed, Thane, and Jacob. Now, I want your team ready to lend support in case this thing goes pear-shaped. Kelly, I want you in the CIC monitoring the com traffic ready to give whatever advice you feel we might need. If we do find life on this ship I'll handle all first contact communication."

"Aye-aye, commander," Kelly responded with a wink and a smile.

"OK, people let's start getting prepped. We'll be in range before we know it." Shepard sighed quietly as he watched Jack silently taunting Miranda with her expression. He still had his armor and weapons from the mission on the Collector ship, so he headed back to the CIC and waited for the rest of the team to assemble at the airlock behind the bridge. He watched as they returned from gathering their gear in ones and pairs. Once the two teams had been fully assembled, he turned to Joker. "Joker, ETA."

"We'll be in docking range in about five minutes." Joker began decelerating to bring the ship to whatever airlock the ship might have. "Holy crap! That thing just lit up like a Christmas tree! I don't think it's dormant any longer! EDI any changes in the weapons systems that we should be aware of."

"Negative Mr. Moreau. The defensive weapons still appear to be offline. I am however picking up a significant increase in internal EM radiation. The ship's internal temperature has increased to a more habitable 302 Kelvin. The gravimetric readings have also increased. That suggests the ship may have some form of artificial gravity. It appears the ship may be readying itself to be boarded. Mr. Moreau do you see the lighting on the starboard side of the ship."

"Yeah, it looks like a ring of lights surrounding a circular section of the hull. That must be the ship's airlock. Commander, I believe we just found a way in. In case you were still thinking of boarding this thing."

"Thanks, Joker. Okay teams you know you're jobs. We go in hot, but no one shoots or touches anything until I give the word. If this a first-contact, I wanna look like peace-keepers not pirates, understood. He received a chorus of 'aye-ayes,' and a 'sure thing, Shep' from Kasumi.

"OK, Joker let's do this."

"Aye-aye Commander." Joker maneuvered the ship to line up exactly with the ring of lights, and, using the attitude thrusters, slid the Normandy right against the alien ship's airlock. The Normandy's airlock opened and the away team, with Shepard in the front stepped up to the other ship's outer door. Shepard reached out to touch the surface of the ship. As his fingers brushed the surface, the ring of lights changed from a harsh red to a more sedate blue, and the circular section ringed by the blue lights seemed to melt open. The darkness of the interior was partially cast aside by the lighting from the Normandy's exterior lights. Shepard and company could see a small white room with another airlock at the opposite end.

"OK, Miranda once my team has breached the interior airlock, I want you and your team to position themselves in the room here and wait for my orders. Joker keep the engine revving, just in case."

"Aye-aye, Commander" and "Aye-aye, Shepard." Came from both Joker and Miranda simultaneously.

"OK, people, let's do this by the numbers. I'm not losing anybody to a derelict spacecraft."

Another chorus of affirmatives wafted over the comms and the team moved into the alien ship. Shepard reached the interior airlock first and began scrutinizing it for obvious signs of how to enter the ship proper. When he touched the interior wall the exterior airlock closed and the space was suddenly lit from the inside. What appeared to be a decontamination scan began at the front of the room and quickly swept toward the rear. Once the scan was complete, a disembodied voice spoke. THREE OF YOUR ARE HUMAN. I DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE SPECIES OF YOUR COMPANIONS. PLEASE IDENTIFY.

Kasumi took note of the fact that she recognized the speech of the 'alien' ship. "Uh, Shep. That voice… that voice was speaking japanese."

"What do you mean. I heard Alliance common."

"That's because of our universal translator. But what I heard with my very own ears was definitely Japanese. Tokyo dialect, to be specific." Kasumi couldn't help but ponder the possible implications of an alien ship that spoke japanese.

"Wait, so you're telling me that the whoever was just speaking, was using japanese?" Shepard couldn't quite wrap his head around the situation they now found themselves in. "So if that's the case…"

I REPEAT. THREE OF YOU I DO NOT RECOGNIZE. PLEASE IDENTIFY.

"Hey, Shepard, whoever or whatever that voice is it sounds like it's getting pissed that we haven't answered it yet." Jack said as she continued to look around the room they were in.

"Well, talk to it Kasumi. I don't speak Japanese." Shepard motioned for the thief to continue.

"Right… OK, uh, whatever you are. The other three people in our little field trip, are a Turian…" Kasumi pointed to Garrus.

TURIAN. SCANNING. The scan began again except it focused only on Garrus. The scan lasted longer than the first, and it began to worry the Turian sniper that the ship wouldn't like what it found. After several moments the scan stopped. TURIAN ANALYSED. DEXTRO AMINO ACID BASED LIFE-FORM. SCAN COMPLETE.

"Next we have a Krogan…" Kasumi pointed to Grunt.

KROGAN. SCANNING. The process repeated itself with Grunt. KROGAN ANALYSED. LEVO AMINO ACID BASED LIFE FORM. SCAN COMPLETE.

"And last but most certainly not least we have a Quarian" Kasumi pointed to Tali.

QUARIAN. SCANNING. The process repeated itself a third time. QUARIAN ANALYSED. DEXTRO AMINO ACID BASED LIFE FORM. PHYSIOLOGY DIFFERENT FROM TURIAN. SCAN COMPLETE. YOU MAY NOW ENTER.

The interior airlock opened and a lighted path was present on the floor. "Well it appears that the ship wants us to go somewhere." Shepard remarked as he looked at the floor, before following the path. "Tali, are you recording all of this?"

"Absolutely, Shepard. Though it appears the ship may be a human design."

"If it was built on Earth I've never heard of it. But I think we have to consider that a possibility." Shepard and the crew continued following the lighted path as it winded through corridors.

Tali spoke up again. "Shepard, from my preliminary scans, it appears we are headed to the center of the ship."

"Ha, ha let's meet this talking pyjack and see if he'd like to get know me a little better. Up close and personal like." Grunt slammed his fists together eager for a little action.

"Are you sure it was wise bringing the walking dispose-all to a possible first-contact situation. I mean he's definitely our guy if we want him to EAT our new alien friends, but not if we want to him GREET our new alien friends." Garrus had finally spoken after having been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the mission thus far.

"It's fine Garrus. Tali, can you tell how much further we have to go before we reach our destination?" Shepard continued leading the team down the lighted corridors.

"I believe that we should be approaching the central chamber in a…" Tali cut off the rest of her sentence as they stepped through another circular opening into a large spheroidal chamber that was big enough to dock the Normandy inside it.

"OK, now THAT fits the definition of alien." Garrus spoke up once more as the ground team eyed the large number of empty glass chambers on the outer wall of the room. Tali's quick count came up with over 100 empty chambers big enough to hold something the size of a baby. The 108th chamber at the very center of the room was large enough to hold a full grown adult. The fact that the chamber was not empty was not lost on Shepard and the rest of the team.

Held motionless in the glass egg, was definitely a woman. A tall slender woman. A tall, slender, naked woman at that. Long ash colored hair was pulled into a very long pony-tail. The woman seemed to be suspended in a clear fluid and was just floating inside the crystal egg, Her arms wrapped around her knees in a semblance of the fetal position.

"Holy shit! Shepard, is that a person in that fucking egg shaped thing?" Jack looked astounded. "Uh, if that's an alien, then I'm a fucking Catholic school girl."

"Shepard, you found the one alien ship in the entire galaxy that came from earth." Garrus couldn't help but stare at the alien female's supportive hips. "Doesn't explain the empty egg things, but you gotta admit she looks awfully human."

"Or maybe this is like the fucking Collector ship. These pods look like they could hold human babies inside 'em. Shepard, you don't think we stumbled across another ship trying to collect humans, do you? This shit is getting weirder by the minute."

Tali started to head directly for the central egg, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Let's see if we can find a control panel or something before we start messing with dead or sleeping people in glass eggs, shall we.

"Right. Of course, Shepard." Tali began scanning the room for possible com terminals or ship controls.

"Shepard, maybe I should try talking to it. To the ship I mean." Kasumi eyed her commander inquisitively.

"At this point, anything would be an improvement. Start by asking where it came from."

Kasumi nodded, "Umm… ship, where do you come from?"

The ship responded by displaying a large holo of the galaxy, then zooming into the ship's current location, but the difference was that in the holo there was a small solar system with four planets orbiting a small yellow star. The second planet looked suspiciously similar to Earth. Tali began to type furiously on her omni-tool. "Shepard, by my calculations we should be right in the vicinity of that second planet right now."

"But this area of space is between clusters. There are no systems for dozens of light years in any directions."

"I agree. But there's something I don't quite… Kasumi, tell the ship to zoom out to the galaxy map again."

Kasumi repeated the request. The entire galaxy is once again on display. "Look Shepard, the galaxy is entirely at the wrong angle. The Sol system is now close to the top of the galactic rotation. That means…" She went back to her omni-tool.

"What does it mean, Tali?" Garrus trying to understand what exactly was going on.

"It means that the image of the galaxy depicted in the hologram is one from over 30,000 years ago. If I'm understanding this right, this ship left its home-world a very long time ago. A time when the system still existed. It doesn't exist any longer."

"But that definitely doesn't explain how it knows Japanese, Shep. Or who or what is in that big glass…" Shepard turned to see why Kasumi trailed off, when he realized they were now looking at a large empty egg.

* * *

AN: Finally, a Mass Effect X Sekirei fanfiction. I hope this is just the first of many such stories. I think this crossover idea is a little unorthodox, but has the potential for some game changing (no pun intended) material. Karasuba and Miya let loose on an unsuspecting galaxy, action gold. Plus Karasuba makes Jack look practically angelic by comparison.

Please R&R. Karasuba and Sovereign demand it.


	2. A Crow Awakens Pt 2

Chapter 2: The Crow Awakens Part 2

Shepard began scanning the room, quickly assessing where the nude female might be hiding. He assumed that since he and his team weren't being attacked, that who or whatever had awoken was more frightened than upset. "Kasumi, let's assume for a minute that the alien woman also knows Japanese. Can you call out to her; make her understand that we don't mean her any harm. Tell her we just want to talk."

"Aye-aye, Shep. Uh, hello. Lady with the long hair, if you can hear me, we mean you no harm… AH!"

Shepard turned around at Kasumi's exclamation to see the nude woman, from the glass egg, was holding a very long sword to Kasumi's neck. "Whoa, hold on there, we don't mean any harm. Just let my friend go and we can talk this out peacefully.

"Shit, Shepard that bitch has a fucking sword. Where the hell did she get a fucking sword?" Jack was at a loss for anything else to say.

The woman looked at Alex through lidded eyes, a vulpine grin on her face. "Hmm, perhaps I mean a great deal of harm. Are you the leader of this bunch, human? Are you the strongest?" She kicked Kasumi away from her, dragging the blade of her sword across the thief's throat at the same time. Kasumi clutched at the wound as blood poured from a severed artery "Come on fight me! I just slit your pretty girlfriend's carotid. What are you going to do about it?"

Shepard ran to where Kasumi was kneeling. Jack, Tali, and Grunt immediately took up positions around him as he administered medi-gel to the sword cut, quickly sealing the damaged artery and closing the cut. "Kasumi stay down and let the medi-gel do its job." Kasumi could only nod as she held her hands protectively over her neck.

Shepard stood up, pulled his assault rifle and looked to Jack. "Subdue her, please." The alien's smile got wider at his words.

"It would be my great fucking pleasure." Jack's biotic corona flared as she launched a warp at the ashen haired alien. The woman only raised her sword and with a single sweeping motion cut the warp in half. The warp field dissipated harmlessly as the alien moved toward the group once more. "OK, how the fuck did she do that?!"

"I got this Shepard!" Grunt hunched forward and with a howl of anger rushed the nude woman planning to knock her on her ass. Pulling her sword into a ready position, the nude female waited for the large reptile to get within reach. At the last moment she cartwheeled over and landed behind the Krogan charger. She reversed her grip on the two meter long blade and plunged it through Grunt's armor clad chest just as he turned around to grab at her.

Garrus, having seen enough, yelled out "Concussive rounds!" He fired his assault rifle at the female hoping the rounds would knock her unconscious. He did not, however, anticipate her cutting the bullets out of mid-air. "Holy crap, Shepard. I've never seen anyone move that fast! She's a spirits-damned demon! Switching to full-auto." Garrus began peppering the area around her with MA rounds as she ducked and dodged around the bullets. He continued to back up and fire as the woman moved inexorably closer. Once final stride brought her within range, and she smoothly cut the Avenger in Garrus's hands in two. The bottom half of the now useless rifle sparked and sputtered in his hands. He dropped the destroyed gun and reached for his shotgun. If the crazy alien bitch wanted to get up close and personal than so could he.

The nude woman tried cutting Garrus's weapon again, but he hit the flat of her blade knocking it aside. With her sword now out of position, she lashed out with her foot kicking the taller alien male away from her as though he weighed nothing. Tali watched her friend slide across the floor, and brought her omni-tool to bear trying desperately to do something to keep this homicidal alien from killing her friends. Chatika fared no better than anything else in their arsenal.

The alien paused her assault on Shepard's team long enough to give them time to regroup. Using that time, she explained the origin of her sword. "My sword is known by many names but its most famous is 10,000 Cold Nights. Its maker was Sengo Muramasa, and it will cut anything placed before it." Her smile widen even further, now more of a rictus than a grin.

"That's… *cough* that's not possible." Kasumi now finally able to use her voice spoke again. "That… that sword is only a myth." She coughed again and glared at the nude killer.

"Oh, is that so," the woman glanced at the blade in her hands as if seeing it for the first time. "Then I suppose this is the most tangible a myth I've ever seen." She dashed forward, her pause now at an end, and brought the blade across in a horizontal cut looking to separate Alex's head from his shoulders. He ducked at the last moment moving almost as quickly as she. "Yes. Show me your power. Show me that humanity is no longer the weak, pathetic species that I remember it to be. Show me that you can stop me from killing your friends."

Garrus moved to a safe distance and began scoping the insane woman; waiting for a moment when she dropped her guard, only then would she be vulnerable. Grunt still healing from the impalement he received few minutes before, moved to bring the ashen blonde woman within his sights once more. Shepard now locked together with the wild woman was having a hell of a time just staying on his feet. Her upper body strength completely at odds with her slender form. He had his hands locked with hers fighting for control of the demon blade. She dropped one hand from the hilt and struck him hard across the face, immediately blackening his left eye. He blinked the pain away but was able to pull the sword from her remaining hand. He slung the blade away and was kicked in the gut for his effort. He slid backwards several meters, positive the kick damaged a few ribs.

"That's it! Show me more!" She leapt over a shockwave from Jack, and dodged another MA round from Garrus. She was now sporting a very bloodthirsty grin on her face. She struck out with a bare foot, hitting Jack in the side of her head. She followed it almost immediately with a sledgehammer fist across the female biotic's jaw, knocking her out. She dashed forward to grab her sword once more when a shot from Garrus's sniper rifle sent it sliding out of reach.

Tali activated Chatika once more, hoping to catch madwoman off guard and paralyze her long enough to subdue her. The psychotic alien watched with fascination as the drone flew toward her, only to dodge at the last moment as the large sphere let loose an electric bolt. She jumped back toward Shepard putting him in between her and the combat drone.

SHEPARD, THIS IS MIRANDA. I'M HEADED YOUR WAY.

SHEPARD, THIS IS KELLY. YOU CAN'T KEEP FIGHTING HER LIKE THIS. YOU'RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO HER HANDS.

COMMANDER, MORDIN HERE. IS KASUMI STABLE?

"Negative, Miranda. I can handle this! You and your team stay put. Yes, Mordin I've closed the wound with medi-gel and she appears to be cognizant, but she has lost a lot of blood. I'm gonna need you ready to take her and Jack to the med-bay, once I've captured this insane bitch!" Shepard stood and grabbed the woman as she charged back toward him. For a moment the two grappled and neither could get an upper hand. Shepard now completely inured to idea he might hurt this alien female called on all the strength he could muster in his large frame. He grabbed her hands and the two continued to battle for dominance.

She felt him begin to take her seriously and she smiled. She could feel his alien ancestry in his skin. His genetic history was calling to her. The foul player, the bear, HER blood flowed through his veins. Her ditzy, scatter-brained friend from a lifetime ago was here with her again in this human male. She felt the anger, the power flowing through their connection. He wasn't a weak pathetic human. He was born of Sekirei. He was a child of Yume; though Musubi had been the one to give his ancestors life. She twisted her body suddenly and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed hard on his back, and his breath was violently expelled from his lungs as she landed on top of him. The woman now with her eyes wide open, her gray eyes staring at his, spoke excitedly. "You're her! You're my yu-chan! She sent you to me!"

Shepard, now thoroughly confused, blinked owlishly. The only thing his mind could muster was, "What?"

"You're mine now… Shepard. You're mine!" She pulled his head toward hers and her arms encircled his neck supporting his upper body. She claimed his lips with her own, her tongue latching onto his and wrapping around it. She kissed him passionately for a long minute before black-light burst from a point between her shoulder blades. A moment later the light coalesced into a pair of large raven's wings. The wings swept forward and wrapped around the pair, before dissipating into motes of light. "Now and forever, you're mine!" She did not wait for an answer when she stole another searing kiss. This one lasted much longer than the first. The woman savored his taste, his texture. She imagined that Yume might have tasted the same if she had kissed her this way. The kiss continued until Shepard, finally able to gather his wits, forcefully pushed the crazy woman off of him.

Shepard stood up. and pulled her up onto her feet in front of him. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Who the hell are you? And what the hell; were those wings?" She just shrugged and looked away.

"I'm number zero four, Karasuba, I'm a Sekirei, and now you're my ashikabi." Shrugging off his hands, she stepped away from him and moved to a bare spot on a far wall. She placed her hand on the wall, and an opening appeared. Inside the wall he saw a large bundle of fabrics, possibly her clothes, and a very long sword scabbard. She removed all of the items from the wall and it closed behind her.

Shepard watched her every move. She turned toward him making sure he saw every movement of her body, as she slipped her miniskirt over her rear, and her tight wrap around her upper body. She buckled her belts and slipped the scabbard into one of them. She pulled on her stockings and boots. The final piece of the ensemble was a gray robe that she wore over her shoulders like a cape. She waltzed back to the group who had all been staring at her audacity. She stopped momentarily, hooked a foot under the hilt of her sword, and, with a movement borne of years of practice, deftly kicked it straight up in the air. The sword flipped, blade now pointed down, and slid home in the scabbard that she held in her outstretched hand.

Shaking unsavory thoughts from his head, Alex turned to the entrance to the central chamber in time to see Miranda and company enter. "Shepard, is everyone alright?" Miranda called out. The rest of her team filtered in behind her.

"Yeah, for the most part. Kasumi got the worst of it. As you can see, I patched it with a dose of medi-gel but she's gonna need Dr. Chakwas take a look at it. Jack's out cold, she'll probably have a shiner when she wakes up. Once everything has calmed down, we'll need to find out from Karasuba how this ship works, as well as how she got this far out into interstellar space."

Karasuba looked between the two commanders and pondered for a moment, "This ship works because I command it. And I got this far into interstellar space by folding here." Both Miranda and Alex turned to Karasuba to listen to what she had to say. "I wanted to know once and for all if our home-world, the Sekirei home-world still existed or not. Miya told me before I left earth that it was gone, but I didn't care. I just needed to be away from everything, away from everyone. So I was given the ship and allowed to leave. Once I found that Miya was indeed correct, I put myself into the glass cage and went to sleep. Now tell me what year it is."

"It's 2185. How long ago was it that you left earth?" Miranda replied cutting Shepard off before he had a chance to speak.

Karasuba eyed the woman for a moment then answered, "I believe it was the year 2021 that I left earth. I arrived here roughly one year later. I've been asleep ever since."

"Wait, you were on earth during the twenty-first century. Miranda, check the records for any ships that match this one leaving earth during that time." Shepard looked at Kasumi for a moment when another realization hit him. "You were in Japan when you were on earth weren't you."

She just cocked an eyebrow at him then nodded. "Can we leave this boring ship, now. I'm anxious to see what else has changed in this galaxy. We were unaware of any other alien races when we found earth. I see at least four new ones I haven't had the pleasure of killing yet."

"Karasuba, when did your race find earth? How long have you known about us?" Miranda continued her questioning.

"I personally never cared to know. That wasn't part of my job description, but Miya believes that we left our planet about 30,000 years ago, your time. Now if you don't mind I'm leaving." She walked by the other members of both teams each of them just staring at her as she passed.

"Shepard, what about the ship? We can't just leave it here!" Miranda said as she watched him help Kasumi up from the floor.

"You're right we can't." He turned to his chief engineer. "Tali how soon can a representative from the migrant fleet be here?"

"I can have someone here in one full ship's cycle." Tali watched her commander intently. Was he thinking of giving the ship to her people.

"Make sure they bring a salvage team. I have a feeling our new guest isn't going to care much what happens to this ship." He watched Karasuba's rear as she stepped out of the central chamber.

"Will do, Shepard." She turned and began connecting and authenticating into the Migrant Fleet's secure connections. She then sent an encrypted message to her father explaining the ship they found. She received a prompt reply, he would be there personally to see this new discovery.

"OK, I think we've done enough for today. Let's head back to the ship. Someone wake Jack up." Jack, still out cold, was picked up and carried back to the exit by Grunt who followed the rest out of the main chamber.

"Took you long enough." Karasuba watched the rest of the Normandy away teams filter into the airlock. They stood amazed as they could now see the exterior of the Normandy as if the ship's hull was made of glass.

"Kara. You're gonna need to wait until we can get you an EVA suit in order to cross over to the Normandy." Shepard placed a hand on Karasuba's shoulder only to feel a jolt pass through it from her body. She looked up at him with an unreadable expression before shaking his hand away.

"No, I won't." She placed her hand on the wall and they all watched as the hull of the ship reached toward the Normandy and created a seal around her external door. A moment later the outer airlock opened and a walkway between the two ships formed.

NORMANDY TO SHORE PARTY? WHAT THE HELL JUST ATTACHED TO THE SHIP?

"It's OK Joker, It's just us. We're heading back now. Go ahead and open the outer door."

AYE-AYE COMMANDER. OPENING THE OUTER DOOR NOW.

The outer door slid out of the way and Karasuba stepped into the Normandy decon area like she owned the place. Once both of the ground teams were in the airlock, Shepard hit the button to close the outer door and decontamination procedures began. Once it was completed, the internal airlock opened and Karasuba was the first to step through, she looked first to her right toward the CIC and then to her left, where she saw Joker staring at her, for once absolutely speechless. She smirked at him, then swung her sword out behind her as she turned and walked down the hallway. The crew stared after the new guest, and her sword. The rest of the team started moving around her to get back to work.

"Shepard, did you just add ANOTHER psycho to the team. Wasn't Jack enough crazy for this mission. I mean she's carrying a sword, and huge one at that. The damn things looks longer than I am tall."

"You are correct, Mr. Moreau. According to my calculations. If you were to stand next, it the top of your head would not reach the sword's hilt."

"Thanks, EDI. I really needed to know that."

"Are you done now Joker. I've got some wounded to take care of. Dr. Chakwas!" Shepard tore his eyes away from tracking Karasuba, and found the good doctor standing in the hallway.

"Kelly told me I would be needed as soon as you got back on board. Kasumi come with me. I'm gonna want to scan that… person as well. I need to assess any possible health risks to the crew. And what has happened to your scars?" Dr. Chakwas turned and led Kasumi away from the rest of the group.

"What do ya mean, Doc?"

"Your facial scars are gone. They've completely disappeared." Shepard reached up with his hand to touch the left side of his face. He couldn't feel the raised scar tissue any longer. His cheek felt completely smooth.

"You're right. How the hell?"

"I don't know, but I'm afraid you're going to be sitting right next to Kasumi, Jack and that…"

"Her name's Karasuba."

"Yes, right next to Karasuba in the medical bay in a hour. Do I make myself clear?" Dr. Chakwas turned to leave without even waiting for an answer.

Shepard watched as Karasuba stood in front of the galaxy map and activated the holo display. He watched as she flipped through the star charts, stopping occasionally on different systems and then moving on to the next cluster. She stopped at the local cluster, and zoomed in on earth. He stepped up behind her, she didn't seem to care about their closeness.

"Ach-umm." Kelly Chambers cleared her throat noisily as she watched the two act rather inappropriately. "Are you gonna introduce me, Shepard?"

"Oh, sorry. Kelly Chambers this Karasuba. Kara this Kelly. She's the ship's yeoman and part-time therapist."

"Nice to meet ya, Kara." Kelly extended a hand in friendship.

Karasuba stared at the hand for a moment then turned back to the galaxy map. Shepard shrugged at Kelly. Kelly waved it off and continued. "Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to just let me know." Kelly turned back to her station and then looked back at Shepard. "You have new messages at your private terminal."

"Thanks, Kelly." He stepped over to his terminal and found two new extranet messages. The first from the Illusive Man, and the second from Admiral Rael'Zorah. He opened the first, and discovered that the Illusive Man was not happy about him giving the alien ship to the Quarians. He gave Shepard some intel to pass onto Liara, regarding the Shadow Broker. He also wanted a QEC debrief as soon as possible. The second message was a confirmation that a salvage team, with Rael leading, was headed to his location and their ETA was approximately 18 hours.

He looked over and found Karasuba was reading the message beside him. Her lidded smile once again firmly in place. "The ship won't work for anyone but me. Well, me and Miya, but she's obviously not here now, is she?"

"That's the fourth or fifth time you mentioned Miya. Who is she? Is she your leader or something?"

"Not anymore, but she was the leader of the ship that crash-landed on earth. She's probably still there, sitting in her dead husband's shrine constantly dwelling on the past."

"Wait, you're saying a Sekirei is living on earth right now. But how is that possible? She would have to almost two hundred years old."

"Oh, she's much older than that. But as a full Sekirei, she'll live ten, a hundred times that long. I should live that long as well now that my DNA has been fully restored." Karasuba stepped off the platform and eyed the elevator. "Where are the showers on this ship. I haven't bathed in literally two hundred years." She looked up at him, her creepy grin ever present.

Shepard thought for a moment. He really didn't want her roaming the ship unsupervised, but if a shower is all she wanted then he could accommodate her and keep her supervised all at the same time. "I have a personal shower that you can use. Follow me." Karasuba only nodded and the two entered the elevator bound for the loft.

"In here." Shepard led his Sekirei into the Captain's quarters and she looked around at the furnishings and decorations. She took special note of the aquarium and the model ships mounted over his desk.

"Where is this shower you promised?" Shepard pointed to the small lavatory next to his office area. She nodded and began undressing, not caring one bit that she was giving him an eyeful of her slender perfectly proportioned body. Once she was fully unclothed, she stepped into the and paused for a moment as if waiting for something. "You want to join me? I can always use an extra pair of hands to wash my back."

Shepard seriously thought about it. As much of a bad idea as that was, he had to admit he was sorely tempted. "No, too many things could happen in there. You have shown yourself to be extremely strong, and agile. I would be placing myself in a indefensible position."

"I can't hurt you. Well, I CAN hurt you, but I can't kill you."

"What do you mean you can't kill me. You were trying bloody hard to kill me an hour ago."

"That was before I made you my Ashikabi."

"That's the second time you called me that. What's an Ashi-ka-bi?

"Ashikabi." Karasuba regarded him for a moment, "Yume would say you're my destined one. But simply, you're my mate. The one most genetically compatible with me."

"Wait, you mean mate in the sexual sense, don't you." Shepard didn't know how to handle the idea that he just mated himself with this alien female. She ignored him and continued into the shower. "Coming or not. I want my shower."

"Not." She closed the door and a moment later he heard water running. "EDI, until I say otherwise the door to my cabin stays locked. No one but me in or out."

"Affirmative, Shepard. Logging you out."

He grabbed her sword and pulled the blade from the scabbard. He admired the finish. The artistry that went into the forging of this sword was awe-inspiring, but there was something not right about it. A tingling in the back of his mind that told him that this weapon enjoyed its job a little too much. He tried to slide the blade back in the scabbard but it wouldn't budge. He pushed harder on the hilt, but it only seemed to increase its resistance.

"It needs blood." Karasuba walked into the living area, a towel wrapped around her torso.

"What do you mean, it needs blood?"

"Once the blade has been pulled from the scabbard, it must taste blood before it will allow itself to be sheathed." Taking her thumb and pressing it against the razor sharp edge, Karasuba allowed a thin trickle of blood to seep over the blade. Once it had taken enough of the red liquid, the blade slipped into scabbard as if it had just been oiled. "Now, since this is our cabin, I'm going to bed. You can, of course,join me, but that is up to you." She pulled on the tucked in corner of her towel and it fell away to reveal the beautiful body barely hidden within. With a smirk on her face, she slipped under the blanket and rolled to her side watching him intently.

Alex ran a hand over his face in exasperation. "I don't have time for games, Kara. There are things going on in the galaxy that you can't imagine. I'm in the middle of a war, possibly an un-winnable one, and you wanna play house."

"Suit yourself." Karasuba rolled to the other side and closed her eyes. Shepard watched her for a few more minutes, when he heard very light snoring. She really fell asleep. He shook his head, and then left his quarters for the crew deck. Whether she was sleeping or not he still had some work to do.

* * *

AN: OK, this was originally part of chapter 1, but I felt I could do it more justice as a separate chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I have not yet begun writing the 3rd chapter, so it will take longer than these two to get uploaded.

EDIT: Please leave a review to tell me which Sekirei other than Miya and Karasuba, you guys would like to see in this fic. The top 3 will used. I will leave this open until I post chapter 3. So let me know sooner rather than later.


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